The gestures in the air, with their seemingly random sign patterns, carried in their execution a rhythmic and orderly feeling. They were all carefully selected and contained specific meanings, unknown to me.
The white-haired hosts' movements were perfectly synchronized, which also spoke volumes to the spectators - me - of how much they had practiced them.
'Their performance so far is amazing. This is the proper attitude hosts should have at entertaining their guests, not like some others who didn't prepare adequately and rushed to entertain, only to disappoint them.'
Forgetting that sour memory as soon as it emerged, I continued to sit at their center, marveling at what true entertainment was supposed to look like.
Their simple gestures already had proven enough for this attraction to be successful in my eyes, but it was no way near over.
The five of them went on to simultaneously make a few swifter gestures and then stopped abruptly with their palms facing each other upside down and with some space separating them.
I could at once see lights of sky azure color manifesting between their palms and expanding. The color was the same as the crystals' and of the glowing lines and symbols, both the carved ones and the ones floating outside.
'A sentient race that could manipulate an energy of nature and cosmos to such degree!'
An extraordinary first for me - like all the things related to this energy I have witnessed so far - was their ability to directly use the energy themselves and not just by applying it to and using foreign objects. I never before had to restrain myself so much to not take out my Archive Log and record everything down.
As soon as the space between their palms was filled with it, the lines and symbols carved underneath us began to glow in its color. When they were all glowing vibrantly, the light amidst their palms tried to escape and continue to expand outside them.
The five, though, didn't let it. I could see it on their faces. The effort they were putting in, in order to keep the light from escaping their grasp, was worth noting.
Their performance, however, was far from over. Immediately after, I felt the gravity shift and getting stronger. Somehow, they were able to alter the gravity in this small space, a fit remarkable for mortal beings such as them.
I stayed there, seated on the floor, counting for how long they could manipulate the gravity.
The moments passed, their faces became redder the longer they persisted in their control.
At some point, I started to worry about them, wondering how far they were willing to go to entertain their guests.
When they didn't stop even after starting to tremble, I couldn't keep watching idle. I didn't want these outstanding hosts to endanger their lives.
I was about to stand and stop them before they could seriously hurt themselves in their efforts, when fortunately, they stopped by themselves.
The carved lines and symbols on the floor began to fade and the gravity returned to normal as they gasped for air while also bending over. I could see they really gave their all to host me, not to mention that these five white-haired members, reasonably judging by their appearances, had to be part of the eldest of their race if they were this exhausted. And yet, their frailer bodies resulting from their advanced mortal age didn't hinder them.
That by itself was enough for me to develop a level of respect for them. In addition, if these attractions were the same for everyone, then they would have done the same thing for all the others who came before me.
I patiently waited for them to catch their breath, showing my newfound respect for them at the same time. Only when they regained again their calm breathing did I turn towards my guide who immediately flinched back from my gaze.
'Even their fellow members enjoyed their performance so much they got distracted.' My respect kept growing by the moment after seeing my guide's reaction.
After a momentary pause, my guide went on to write something in a hurried fashion on his papers. By the time he was done, I was already standing and waiting patiently at his side for him to finish and guide me to their next attraction.
The next attraction was simpler in its set-up and involved far fewer members of the race than the ones before, with only a single individual sitting on the plain floor. In front of him there was a low table with small pieces of energy crystals on top.
I was invited to sit across to him with the table between us. Then, the person spoke some words, but I didn't manage to understand any of them; he was quick with his mouth and used only a few of them.
His black hair lines above his eyes almost met at the bottom center of his forehead when he saw me stay still. I knew he wanted me to do something based on his simple action, but I was unaware of what that was exactly. He then took a piece of crystal in his palms and closed his eyes while starting to breathe in a certain way.
I watched in amazement as I could feel, after a few moments, a small amount of the energy inside it being slowly extracted and seep into the individual's body.
When the size of the crystal was reduced by one third of its original size, he stopped and opened his eyes. Then, he passed the crystal to me while making subtle movements with his head and eyes.
The explanation was clear to interpret, this attraction was about doing the same as the host, which was absorbing the energy from the piece of crystal. So, I followed by taking the piece in my palm.
Finding the way to absorb the energy wasn't difficult at all as I only needed to think about it to work. In a split moment, the piece of crystal in my palm was gone, having absorbed it completely.
The host in front of me looked surprised when he saw my empty hand. He seemed to be in disbelief, probably not believing I could absorb it so much quicker than him.
Still refusing to believe his eyes, he gave me another crystal piece. By giving me a second one, he wanted me to try again, only this time the host moved closer with his chair, and his eyes were glued to my hand to not miss a single detail.
Suffice to note, the second piece vanished as quickly as the first one. The host's eyes opened wide and stared at my empty hand with a blank stare. He was speechless in defeat.
'I guess I won this one for sure!' I inwardly nodded to myself as I stood up, leaving this attraction's host. It was a simple attraction but a different one as host and guest could compete with each other.
By the time the host recovered, my guide had once again taken hurried notes in his papers, and we proceeded to the fourth attraction.